To kickstart your blog and start monetising, the first thing you should understand is what blogging is all about, and how a blogger works on their blog to earn money.
Moreover, are you a new blogger or a seasonal/amateur one and would like to give your blogging stuff and lift, you should always bear in mind this mindset: You have to spend money before you can actually earn money, and if you like something but it brings you only peanuts, go for other options. We don’t have time to waste here!
Blog, blogger, and blogging – What are they about?
Well, before talking about what blogging is, let’s just make sure we all agree what a blog is and who bloggers are.
1. What is a blog?
A blog can be easily understood as a website, however, instead of being any website representing a company, an organisation, a corporation, etc., a blog is more personal, and is run by a person or a small group of people.
A blog should always have a main topic or a combination of several topics, for example, a travel blog, a mom blog, a beauty blog, a travel and lifestyle blog, a mom and home-schooling blog, and so on.
There are also some blogs that serve as a portfolio, mostly among people working in the field of digital marketing, graphic design, art… where to show off their artworks is a must.
And last but not least, blogs that are literally personal blogs where bloggers shared their feelings and (parts of) their personal lives. Those blogs are more of an online diary than a blog that you can make money from.
I think that’s enough for a short definition of what a blog is.
2. Who are (professional) bloggers?
First off, I would like to make it clear what I think of a professional blogger.
Many people would say that professional bloggers are the ones who don’t have any other job/business beside their blogs, meaning the blog is the one and only source of income, and they work full-time on it as blogger/freelancer/content creator, you name it.
But for me, a professional blogger doesn’t necessarily mean exactly like that. The word “professional” hare should rather be understood as work professionally.
Professionalism can be shown immediately on their blog’s URL. Instead of using free service and ended up having URLs like thisisablog.wordpress.com or myblog.wixsite.com, a professional blogger will invest on a self-hosting service and a proper domain name, allowing their site’s URL to be neat and short. See mine?
Next, a professional blogger will wisely choose a topic/a niche they can monetise from, instead of too personal ones. Obviously, a blog about how to learn online effectively is more likely to make money than a blog about a rainy day in the countryside. Well, unless you run an umbrella business in the countryside.
Professionalism is also the way how they work on their blog. Were the articles properly edited? Do they post new articles often? How about pictures/photos used in the blog? SEO? Content strategy?
Simply put, to be a professional blogger is nothing less than to have a job, although it’s not a 9-to-5 and you’re not guaranteed any monthly salary. The biggest difference is that you own yourself.
3. So, what is this “blogging thing” about?
When you own a blog, you become a blogger, and blogging is basically sharing your interest and knowledge to other people.
When you’re especially interested in a topic and start to blog about it, you give yourself a unique opportunity to spread your passion and share your knowledge to those who are interested in the same thing as you are and want the same knowledge as you have. That is blogging!
By blogging, you make a profit from your blog at the same time.
A profit can come from sources like:
- Showing ads (like Google Ads)
- Affiliate marketing, meaning you’ll earn a commission by referring products/services to your readers and they actually buy those.
- Writing sponsored posts/PR articles/link placement, etc.
- Selling courses online, physical products, or services (e.g. tour planning service, menu planning service, consulting service, etc.)
Sounds good? Well, it’s easier said than done!
In order to generate a proper income from these sources, or even, from just ONE of those, you have a long way to go.
You have to spend your first money to set up a proper website, create engaging content, share your content, learn how to grow traffic to your blog, master (or at least know how to use) SoMe, build up your community, develop your personal branding, build up trust, learn email marketing, update the latest trend, the whole nine yards.
Hello, are you still following?
Well, even if you’re reconsidering being a blogger now, don’t worry because I made this whole blog, From Hobby to Money, for you. With my experience in travel blogging since 2016, I know exactly what you should do and how to do it to become a successful, professional blogger and make money from your blog!
4. The professional blogger’s mindset
To become a professional blogger, you have to think like a professional blogger first. It’s the same as to become a business owner, you must have the start-up’s mindset; to become successful, you must believe that you’ll be successful.
So what is the professional blogger’s mindset? In my humble opinion, these are things you should always bear in mind:
- It will take time. A lot of. So, be patient. Rome wasn’t built in one day.
- Never give up. I know there will be (many) days when you feel upset and unsure about this blogging thing, but you know what? It will be fine.
- Learn from other professional/successful bloggers. Don’t look at them as your competitors but rather as examples/inspiration and learn from them, both the good and the bad. Learn, NOT copy.
- You have to write a lot before you can gain people’s attention and an effing lot before you can actually start monetising your dear blog.
- Don’t be shy to share your content to the public. By the end of the day, you’re trying to sale something, right, and the sales game is not for introverts, sorry.
- And again, you have to spend money before you can earn money. If you must invest, invest. I have never seen any successful blogger who owns a .wordpress.com URL and uses a free theme coming along with WordPress. Never.
I truly hope this sharing will help you understand what blog, blogger, and blogging, and you can have some useful information for your decision.
Happy blogging!
Photo by Jessica Arends on Unsplash